Venus, IBM & Wimbledon 2007

This past weekend Jeff and I were guests of IBM at Wimbledon. Thank you very much Big Blue! I am not much of a tennis follower except when it comes to July! I played when I was much younger, enjoyed it but just haven’t the inclination over the years to chase a small ball around a court! Too busy I guess. Wimbledon is very special though. There is something about this English traditional event that gets my heart and attention. I love going - the Pimm’s, strawberries & Cream and sitting in the stands at Center Court – rain or shine. What a wonderful time we would have!

On Friday night we had dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in Claridge’s hotel hosted by what seemed to be the Benelux/Dutch IBM contingent. Nice people! We did not have an encounter with Gordon but had a great meal that included a wonderful Artichoke Risotto! We spent the night at Chesterfields Hotel on Charles St. (off Berkley Square – pronounced Barkley for you Americans!). Silly I know – we were less than half a mile from our flat – but what the hell! What a little treasure this hotel is! The service was impeccable and the bar sublime! A real manly - man sort of place!

Early Saturday morning we boarded a coach from the hotel for the short trip to the hallowed grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The sun was actually shining and it was warm enough to need sun tan lotion! We were going to see some good tennis! I was anxious to cheer on fellow American Venus Williams in the Ladies Final.

Upon arrival we were installed in a hospitality room where champagne, Pimm’s and other little treats were served. A very nice Irish intern gave us our tickets to Center Court and we headed out to watch Roger Federer’s semi final match as he dismissed Richard Gasquet in three straight sets (to set up a rematch of last year's championship match with Nadal). It was a little weird - the center court with no roof on it. Apparently the roof is in Sheffield and will be back in 2009. Shockingly to those seated around us, we didn’t stay for the whole match because we were hungry. To me it was a forgone conclusion that Roger would win so we headed back to the hospitality room for lunch and watched the rest of the match on TV. I really wanted to be in my seat for the start of the Ladies Final and we were! I have already bored most of you with my tale of bumping into Venus at last year’s Wimbledon event, so I won’t bother you now!

Venus was the lowest ranked player (23^rd) to ever make it to the finals at the Wimbledon Championships. Her opponent, France's Marion Bartoli (ranked 18^th) was a surprise finalist after her semi-final win over Justine Henin on Friday evening. You could just sense that the crowd was rooting for the unknown Marion! Not me! I usually love the underdog but I had to go with Venus today! Well, after I knocked her to the ground last year what would you expect? What a powerful woman! After she won I loved how she hugged the Venus Rosewater Trophy and waved to her mother in the crowd! It was also great to see Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in the stands. You just had to wonder what they were saying to each other about the match? I will look forward to attending Wimbledon again next year – if we get invited again! Thanks IBM! Ok, a blatant hint!